Dr. Karen Johnson, Associate Professor

Dr. Karen Gabrielle Johnson currently teaches literacy and first-year courses and serves as the Director of the Graduate Writing Center. She joined Ship in fall of 2009 and led the Writing Studio for 11 years as its director.  Her professional service activities have encompassed serving on regional and international writing center organizations, which include a four-year term as the Treasurer of the International Writing Centers Association, the Treasurer and At-Large Representative of the Mid-Atlantic Writing Association, and Chair of the 2012 MAWCA Conference at SU. Over the years Karen has presented at a variety of regional, national, and international conferences, usually accompanied by undergraduate and graduate tutors who are presenting in a professional venue for the first time. Her research focus has centered on writing center studies, assessment, and service-learning. She has been serving as Co-Editor of the Writing Lab Newsletter: A Journal of Writing Center Scholarship since August of 2018 and Managing Co-Editor of the Digital Edited Collections since 2019. In her free time, she and her husband enjoy traveling and spending time with their three children and their families.

Selected Publications

Open-Access Book

Johnson, K. G. and Roggenbuck, T., Co-editors. (January, 2019). What We Teach Writing Tutors: A WLN Digital Edited Collection. https://wlnjournal.org/digitaleditedcollection1/JohnsonRoggenbuck.html 

Guest Co-editor for Special Journal Issues

Roggenbuck, T., and Johnson, K. G. Co-editors (2019). “What We Believe and Why: Educating Writing Tutors Part II.” Writing Lab Newsletter: A Journal of Writing Center Scholarship 43(9-10).

Johnson, K. G., and Roggenbuck, T., Co-editors (2017). “What We Believe and Why: Educating Writing Tutors.” Writing Lab Newsletter: A Journal of Writing Center Scholarship 42(1-2).

Book Chapters

Johnson, K.G. and Robinson, M. (Under Review). “Conversations about Faith in the Writing Center: A Comparative Analysis of Faith-Based Discourse in Religious and Public Universities.” The Politics of Faith and Secularism in Writing Centers and Writing Studies.

Johnson, K.G., and Roggenbuck, T. (2019). “Digital Collaboration in Writing Center Scholarship” How We Teach Writing Tutors: A WLN Digital Edited Collection, edited by Karen G. Johnson and Ted Roggenbuck, 2019, . https://wlnjournal.org/digitaleditedcollection1/JohnsonRoggenbuck.html.

Johnson, K. G. (2018)  Multiplying Impact: Combining Third and Fourth Spaces to Holistically Engage Basic Writers.  In M. Sutton and S. Chandler (Eds.), The Writing Studio Sampler: Stories About Change, (pp. 149-165), https://wac.colostate.edu/books/.

Peer-Review Journal Article: Editors’ Choice Award

Johnson, K., Ott, H. & Drager, M. (2015). Writing Tutoring Boosts Students’ Skills and Confidence. Academic Exchange Quarterly, 19(1). http://rapidintellect.com/AEQweb/5554v5.pdf   

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Johnson, K. G. & Cella, L. J. (2022). From Bell Cows to Overburdened, Contingent Labor: An Examination of Ecological Shifts in Brown University’s Writing Fellow Program. WLN: A Journal of Writing Center Scholarship. 64(7-8), 3-10.

Knight, M. L. Johnson, K. G., & Stewart, F. (Spring, 2016). Reducing Student Apprehension of Public Speaking: Evaluating Effectiveness of Group Tutoring Practices. The Learning Assistance Review, 21(1), 21-54.

Peer-Reviewed Blog

Johnson, K., and Roggenbuck, T., (Spring, 2022). Two of the WLN Editors respond to Aspiring Editors’ Questions. Connecting Writing Centers Across Borders. Web.

Johnson, K., and Roggenbuck, T., (Spring, 2019). New Resource for Writing Centers: Writing Lab Newsletter’s Digital Edited Collection. Connecting Writing Centers Across Borders.

Book Foreword

Johnson, K.G. (2015). Foreword. In K. A. Charron (Ed.), Writing Center Theory and Practice: Sound Instruction Vol. 4 (pp. v). Stuyvesant Falls, NY: Rapid Intellect.

Debut Guest Co-Speaker on a Featured Podcast

Roggenbuck, T. & Johnson, K. (2021). “Meet the Editors of WLN: Ted Roggenbuck and Karen Johnson. Connecting Writing Centers Across Borders: A Blog of WLN: A Journal of Writing Center Scholarship. http://www.wlnjournal.org/blog/2021/02/podcaste01/

To view Dr. Johnson’s vita, click here